Ferree's story---a bit from her book, part 2

"I kept knocking anyway. After two or three days of this knocking, ranting, whining and continuous complaining to God--just as I started getting used to the bitter taste of it--a small thought about the size of a pebble lobbed into my head: I was wrong.

Wrong? Me? Hmmph. I hate to be wrong! How could that happen? Did I forget something?

You know what? I did forget something. I’d forgotten one important fact: there was more than one verse in the Bible for widows—there was an entire book about us! The book of Ruth told about three widows. Why hadn’t I looked at it before? I decided to read it.

And so I did. I read it once, then twice, then over and over. I went to my church and dusted off the old commentaries lining the shelves of an unused room. I clicked my way through the Internet. I became obsessed. Like putting a puzzle together, I found pieces of information that only a widow would recognize and appreciate; pieces that were key to the whole picture. Without fail, every time I opened to the book of Ruth over the next two years a fresh insight came to me.

I asked every question—who, what, where, when, why and how—of every phrase, sometimes every word. Fascinating details of the history and the culture emerged. Ruth and Naomi became like real people to me, like dearest friends. I shared fellowship in their suffering through my observation and study of God’s Word.

God had an extraordinary story for these widows! But, I wondered, did they know what He was doing? Did they know their story would be in the Bible? Of course not. They thought they were nobodies, like you and I. Ruth only knew she wanted to follow Naomi to God’s Promised Land, become one with Naomi’s people and belong to Naomi’s God. She clung to Naomi like a life preserver.

Naomi only knew that God Almighty had brought her hardship. She thought God had turned against her and was punishing her. Maybe she, too, felt like God had punched her off the swing--or worse. Yet she didn’t let feelings determine her faith. Her life showed me how real faith turns to God when it’s hardest to do so—when life isn’t safe, when it’s hard, when it’s messy, when it hurts. She did what faith required. Despite her bitter feelings and pain she put one foot in front of the other and headed back home to the Promised Land, the first step leading to joy.

I had to follow her. .."

And then I had to write about all I discovered from the widows in Ruth...

And that, dear friends, is how I began to write Postcards From The Widows' Path. And then I started this blog, and then I started a little Lifeboat group. And God has turned heartbreak to hope, powerlessness to passion, and pain to purpose. For me. For you. Let's lean into His love today.

♥ ferree